Portable-box post-office.



No. 760,562.- a PATENTED'MAY 24,1904.

J. H. RBIGHLEY & W. P. SPARROW. I

PORTABLE BOX POST OFFICE.

APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 1'7. 1903.

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. q q H mwi w I zzzfi gg wi/fldw/w UNITED STAT S JOHN H. REIGHLEY, 0F WELLsvILLE, TAND WILLIAM P.

g MOBERLY, 'Missousi.

Patented m 24, 1904:

PATENT OFFICE.

SPARROW, on

PORTABLE-BOX POST-OFFICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No; 760,562, dated May 214, 1904. App1ioation'filedNovember1'7,1903. Serial No. lsnasoj'cio ny To all whom it mag/concern:

Be it known that we, JoHN H. REIG LEY, residing at Wellsville, Montgomery county, and

WILLIAM P. SPARROW, residing atMoberly,

Randolph county, State of Missouri, citizens of the United States, have invented certain of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to portablebox postoflices for rural-route mail-carriers, and has for its Ob ect to produce a device of th1scharacter which permits of alphabetical or name classifications of the'inail-matter and newspapers or other periodicals and which also forms a convenient receptacle for stamps, money, paper, envelops, pens, and all other supplies which it is customary or desirable for a ruraldelivery postmaster to handle for the conven ience of himself and the public.

A further object is to produce a device. of

this character provided with a series of superimposed tills having their front sidesand bottoms in the form of pivoted plates capable of being folded against the back wall of the box,

so as to enable the mail-carrier to adapt the box to receive packages of more than the usual length. a

With these and other objects in view, as hereinafter appear, the invention consists in certain novel and peculiar features of construction and organization, as hereinafter described and claimed, and in order that itmay be fully understood reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which box being shown open. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the box,.taken on the line II II of Fig. 1, but with the box closed. Fig. 3 is a detail view of one of the pivoted plates forming the bottom and front wall of the till.

Referringto the drawings in detail, 1 designates the base, 2 the sides, 8 the back, and 4 the top, of the box, approximating in'height and width a small trunk, but preferably narrower from front to rear, so that the box can be conveniently carried on the bottom ofa buggy in front of the driver or can be lifted of the strip next above, as shown.

up. and easily placed upon the seat by his side, and in either positionits contents are easily accessible. o

, The front of the box is in the form of a door 5, hinged, by preference, at its lowerend, as at 6, to the bottom and adapted to be'provid ed with a suitable padlock (not shown) to secure it in its closed position,'and secured tothe outer or front side of the door is a mail-pouch 7 to receive the mail collected by, the carrier.

j'lhe door is provided with a series of longitudinal channels 8 in its inner side, said channels beingof suitable width to accommodate any ordinary letter, and bridging said channels at suitable intervals and secured by screws or tacks 9 or equivalent devices to the door are canvas or other strips 10, the fabric of each strip preferably overlapping the lower edge Out of. the lower edge ofeach strip except the bottom strip are cut tongues 11,corresponding in numberto the channels 8 and registering there.-

.With, said tongues extending from a point above the upper edge of-the contiguous strip and having theirfreeends tacked or otherwise'secured inthe bottoms of said channels,

as at 12, as shown most clearly in Fig. 2. By

this disposition of said tongues it will be seen that the channels 8 are divided ,up into a large number of pockets wherein letters and postal cards may be conveniently lodged pending distribution, the number of pockets, of course, permitting of alphabetical or. name classifica-.

tion of such mail-matter.

Thebod y of the box is provided with a series of vertical partitions 13, the middle one cleats 16 to engage grooves 17 in the proximate faces of the contiguous partitions 13, as shown most clearly in Fig. 1, this drawer being adapted to contain stamps, money, stamped and unstamped envelops, pens, and other sup-' plies. Between the partitions 13 the back wall of the box is preferably provided in its front or inner side withrecesses 18, which. in width extend from partition to partition or from partition'to side wall and in height equal that of the plates 19, hinged, as at 20,

in the lower ends of said grooves, said plates 19 being provided near their upper ends with outwardly projecting lugs 21, engaging grooves 22, formed in the contiguous slots concentric of hinge-points 20. The parts just described constitute a series of superimposed tills, of which plates 19 form the bottom and front sides, the lugs 21 by contact with the front ends of the grooves serving to hold said plates at the desired angle with reference to the back. When it is desired to provide a till of depth to accommodate a package too long to be properly held in any one of the tills, the bottom of one of the top series of tills can be swung rearwardly into the registering recess 18 of the back wall, as indicated in dotted lines, Fig. 2. By so doing it will be obvious that space is provided which will accommodate a very long package. In case the latter is about as long as the interior height of the box the bottoms of a full set of superimposed tills can be swung to inoperative position, so that said package can restupon the bottom of the-box, as will be readily understood. For convenience in handling the box it is provided with a handle 23 at its upper end.

A portable-box post-oifice of the type described possesses all of the advantages of the wagons built expressly for rural -delivery mail-carriers and is far preferable to such wagons, because the latter are expensive and cannot be used to advantage for any other purpose than the delivery of mail. The carrier equipped with this box can place it in his buggy and after delivery or collection hours can deposit it with the supervising postmaster and have the buggy for any other use he may desire. Ordinarily the box would be placed in the bottom of the buggy contiguous to the dashboard; but in case of rain or for any other reason it could be conveniently deposited upon the seat beside the driver, where it would be more fully protected.

From the above description it will be apparent that we have produced a portable-box post-oflice for rural-delivery mail-carriers embodying the features of advantage enumerated as desirable in the statement of invention and which is also of simple, strong, durable, and inexpensive construction.

It is to be understood that various changes may be resorted to in its form, proportion, detail construction, and arrangement of the parts without departing from the principle of construction involved.

Having thus described the invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A box post-office, comprising a box, having a hinged door provided at its inner side with a series of longitudinal channels, and with a series of flexible strips bridging said channels; each strip havingits upper end overlapping the lower end of the next strip above, and each strip above the bottom one having tongues cut out of its lower end which are socured to the bottoms of the registering channels.

2. A box post-ofiice, comprising a box having a door, and provided with vertical partitions, and with segmental grooves in the opposing faces of the partitions and the side walls, plates having their lower ends contiguous to the back wall and hinged at said ends concentrically of said grooves and provided with laterally-projecting lugs engaging opposite grooves.

3. A box post-office, comprising a box having a door, and provided with vertical partitions, and with segmental grooves in the opposing faces of the partitions and the side walls, and with recesses in the back wall with which the rear ends of said grooves register, and plates having their lower ends contiguous to the back wall and hinged at said ends concentrically of said grooves and provided with laterally-projecting lugs engaging opposite grooves; said plates being adapted to swing back into said recesses.

In testimony whereof we aiiix our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN H. REIGHLEY. VILLIAM P. SPARlKHV. Witnesses:

U. S. BoULwAN, THOMAS MeCUsKnY. 

